Page 3 of Finding Her Luck
Her wild splashing. Two steps. Three. No time to inhale deep and scream out obscenities and defiance. Arms went around her, covered her mouth. Her chance to call for help, to warn her village lost.
Of course, they caught her. She had no luck. Not then, and never before.
They gagged her mouth, trussed her up like a goose and stored her on their boat like baggage. With the silence of men used to skulking, nine of them left for Rivrtonn and one stayed to guard her and the boat.
The man stood next to her, eyed her now and then. He didn't talk, but his toothy leer was near enough to the one Barthollo the pig farmer gave her that she knew what he was thinking. His blade moved in his hands, flicking between his fingers, and tossing it about like a magician. He watched the shore, watched her, and they waited.
When the others returned, she heard the bleat of a goat, the muffled clucking of bagged chickens, and the soft crying of people. There was no talking. No jesting. They moved quick and efficient. Two bodies were shoved in next to Corrin, along with the tied-up goat, chickens, and some goods that looked like they came out of a storehouse.
Their boat filled, their raid a success, they rowed away. Four oars working the water with quiet skill and barely-there splashes—these men knew what they were doing.
The sun was up when the boat stopped.
Anxiety twisted through Corrin's gut and her heart beat in her ears, pounding in her head.
Other men greeted them with shouts of, "Hooyah!" Now that they were home and safe, the talking ban was over, and they filled the air with loud, brash male voices all clamoring at once.
"And how was the thieving?" A merry voice boomed the question.
"Never been easier. No watch, no wall, no weapons, not a soul awake except for these pretty little bitches. They will be alerted now that these are missing. I think we should go tomorrow for the rest. Probably one of those smart little towns run by a council where they will have to spend a week arguing about what to do about us." Answered another voice.
They were right, Corrin knew. That was exactly what had happened. Rivrtonn's council had known about the dangers of the raiders and had been arguing about how to protect themselves for weeks already. It was one of the reasons she had forgotten about them. All the debating and complaining had made the danger seem small and far away. They had time to decide, to set watches and patrols. They had time to think of a defense.
Tomorrow, Rivrtonn would pay for their stupidity with their lives. Just like she would pay for her thoughtlessness and bad luck.
There was more hallooing and shouting after that, while Corrin and the two others were unloaded as cargo, lined up for inspection. The men were taller than the fishermen and farmers she knew, dressed in piecemeal black armor and showing the burns of battle—as ugly and stinky a group as she'd ever seen. Stealth and skill in the night, with the dawn here, they turned into noisy, lawless rabble-rousers. The worst kind of men. Corrin recognized them from Nanny's stories.
They poked and pinched her and the other maids with the same interest as they did the goat and the chickens. Corrin knew exactly what was coming and couldn't decide how she was going to face it. Fight? Hope they kill her? Or give in, suffer through it like a wedding night with a pig farmer?
Nanny, in all her talking, had warned her about dealing with bad men. She'd suffered the cruel selfishness of her first husband, and the cold indifference of the second who had been forced on her by in-laws.
"You are so accustomed to bad things coming your way that you are terrible at being afraid. Unlike your sisters, who squeal at every noise, and worry about every convention, you grab a log to bash the bad things. You must be careful, my dear. Some men will hate you for your fearlessness, and some will want you for it. Men will enjoy causing pain and disgust. It's better to fake the fear with them because it will be pleasing and you'll get less pain. Some see fearless as a challenge, and they will want to break you, till you are blank and doe eyed. Both are the kind that will use anything to get your reaction. Pay attention, my dear. With your luck, you'll be tossed between the two."
The way these thugs were talking, it sounded like she'd be dealing with more than one of them. Nasty, thieving animals, how did they have the luck to snatch her up when not a one of them was worth a wooden coin? What had she done to deserve to be born under two blood moons?
"Alright there, now. Can you cook? Don't lie, now. Our last woman burned the meal. Didn't go well for her. Need someone who can cook something decent. You damn simple people and your damn humble ways. What is wrong with solar power? Electricity? Hydron energy? Any one of those is better than wood and fire." He bent over Corrin, getting close as he took out her gag and gave her a whiff of his stinking, unwashed self.
She hadn't thought it possible for a man to smell worse than Barthollo. But this man had clearly rolled in refuse and dead bodies.
She spit and tried to wet her dried mouth. "I can't cook anything but porridge and fish," she told him.
"That's what I do. I cook," said a small voice behind her. It sounded familiar. Corrin couldn't see who it was, and tried to twist, but a booted foot landed on her hip, keeping her still. She looked up at the dirty bearded face of one of the men who'd caught her. His gap-toothed, friendly grin made her shiver.
He told the other girl, "Good then. Good. Do a good job and you will be rewarded."
Corrin didn't believe that for a minute.
Gap-tooth picked Corrin up and threw her over his shoulder. The pointy, angled thing on his armor dug in her middle and robbed her of breath. She'd never look at potatoes sacks the same way again.
"I'll take this one," he said, smacking her hard on the butt. Her whole body jerked, and she let out a scream that made him laugh. She needed to decide what to do, right now.
How was she going to survive this? Was it worth surviving?
"You'll take 'em both and put them in the big house for now. Boss said to save them for later. There's only three, anyway. He will want them first. You know how he is."
"Greedy son-of-a-bitch, isn't he? He took an extra one, plus his new wife last night!"
"You're welcome to fight him for them."
